The Joys of Post-Ramadan

Brady and Dad on the swings


This is my favorite week to live in Qatar. The week after Ramadan (the month of fasting and shorter workdays which gets OLD, my friends) we get a week off from work. All of our colleagues travel, but I am on duty 1) b/c someone has to be and 2) so I can add this on to my vacation in the states in December! I don't know if you have ever taken a week off of work but stayed home, but it is actually REALLY relaxing. even with three rugrats who are into EVERYTHING. :)

The first night of our break we fell asleep on the couch by 8:15 PM and were in bed by 9PM. awesome. there is nothing like 9 hours of uninterrupted sleep to do a body good. since then we have been in a nice little routine - occasional walk to the park (still pretty much too hot and humid to be outside very long), some playing in the sand (and yes, both Aidan and Gavin decided to try to eat ROCKS), occasional trip to an "illegal" neighborhood pool, a lunch out, etc. it's been great.

Gavin shows a little skin in mid-tantrum

The boys are eating up a storm. We had our first meal "out" with them since we were in Des Moines this summer where the highchairs straps didn't work and the boys were either climbing out or throwing rice on the floor. not fun. OUr friend Kevin foolishly called to meet us for lunch yesterday and said he would be happy to help with the kids. I have known for awhile we needed to start doing this with the boys, if only to get them used to being out in public and just to have something different to do. I got these great kiddopotomus placemats that stick down and have a pocket and then just roll up when you are done (thanks Lindsay W for the recommendation!) even though after our lunch in des moines curt said he would never go anywhere with the boys until they were about 6 years old. HA! anyway, we took them to Applebees (your friendly neighborhod restaurant, even in the middle east!) and they were SOOOOO good. the key is of course to keep them busy. They are too young for coloring, but since they LOVE food, that was our ticket in. they were also jazzed to get all of the attention from teh staff, to look at the different environment and all of the people coming in and out. it was pure heaven for them. Now, I have never really paid much attention to kid's menus until now. MAN do they suck for any decent healthy menus - at least here. They boys split chicken fingers and a grilled cheese and fries and broccoli. there was an option to ask about their "healthy" options instead of fries. I think i was the first parent to ever ask for this. the waitress literally did not understand my question, even after showing her where we were reading on the menu. she then tells us the healthy options are mashed potatoes (for 1 year olds, not in public thanks), or a baked potato. we finally got her to share they could give us steamed broccoli, but it really did seem like it was completely out of their day to day requests. On our way home the boys seemed like they were SPENT. they didn't sleep, but they did look like the guy who did the Supersize Me movie - like they had just ingested enough fat and salt for a week. Luckily they still were HAPPY to eat the tofu and acorn squash for their dinner that day. I think all of the fried food was jsut a little much for them all at once.

We also had friends offer to be our third adults and go swimming at a local pool with us. It's not in our compound (that is supposed to open "in shallah" - i'm thinking god is NOT going to "will it" before the end of the calendar year :( ) but a colleague who has the authority to, told me to go ahead and use it since we had small kids with little options to get them outside right now. it was AWESOME. Gavin had a perma-grin on his face the entire time we were there. I think he drank half of the pool water, but he didn't care. Aidan was much more reserved and Brady was just taking it all in while he clung to curt or me.

Some last bottles for Aidan and Gavin

And of course, what are the boys up to these days? well for starters, Aidan is our little climber. he first used a pillow to climb on the couch, but has since been able to haul himself up by grabbing on to us, cushions, putting his little knee on the couch, etc. it's really cute, but also a little nervewracking since it's his new favorite activity. He of course now wants to climb EVERYTHING - coffee table, entertainment stand, etc. He is really pushing the envelope with what he can get away with, but has also entered a really snuggly and cuddly stage that is so nice. i'm really reticent to end the bottles when we are out of formula in a couple of days, but if we still get snuggles like this, it will be easier for me.

Super Aidan

And Brady is asserting his independence. It's not that he doesn't like the food we serve, he sometimes just doesn't feel like eating it at that time. He has started a nasty habit of throwing food on the floor which has resulted in standoffs that resemble this: He picks up the egg/pepper/fruit/toast/whatever and puts his hand out over the floor when he doesn't feel like eating it. We will see him do this and will say "Brady, do NOT throw that on the floor." He will then sit there with this shit-eating grin on his face for 10-30 seconds and then PLOP! drop the food on the floor. SO UNFURIATING. this means he loses his tray and is done eating whatever we are currently feeding them (but if there is another course, like the fruit, he can have some of that), or he may be done for the meal. This has involved him sitting in his highchair without his tray and watching his brothers eat quite a bit lately. He will cry for the first minute and then sit there just taking it all in until we bring out the next course. He also thinks "no" is funny. like HILARIOUS. also, infuriating. he is our little fire marshall though. his new favorite trick is closing doors. the big ones. he will see his bedroom door is open, crawl purposefully down the hall and then slam the door, only realizing later that he is now locked inside. it drives him CRAZY if he didn't shut the door hard enough and it stays just kind of propped. This is funny to watch, but also a little scary since he has now caught his fingers in a door more than once as he tried to make it shut.

And Gavin. He is our rough and tumble boy. He does not yet get that he may be hurting or annoying his brothers as he "plays" with them. Gavin and Aidan have this great game where they will steal each others pacifiers back and forth ( see video below). Sometimes this results in sadness (see end of video) but it can usually go for quite awhile with them giggling and squealing at each other. The other morning he had his pacifier and was trying to take aidan's while they were standing in between two cribs. Aidan is behind him against the wall and Gavin is holding on to the pacifier in Aidan's hand with ALL HIS MIGHT and turning bright red and screeching. Aidan has begun to cry and complain about the situation when Gavin loses his balance and lands his nearly 24 lbs on aidan's 20 lbs. This is reminiscent of much of how Gavin plays with his brothers when he gets over excited. We only had some bruised egos on this one (everyone lost their pacifiers after this little incident) but we are constantly worried he will accidentally take them down and acutally hurt them as they hit a table or something. He doesn't do this stuff to hurt them, he just gets wrapped up in the toy or game and can NOT let it go. we had to take a mom/gavin time out this afternoon after he was SO excited about the ball toy (plays music, shoots balls in the air) that he kept falling over on it and subsequently making the toy hit one of his brotehrs in the head/face/hand/etc. It took him a solid minute to get his breathing slowed down and to be able to focus on a different toy with me, out of sight of the original toy. He is also actively trying to walk - he will stand with one hand on something and you can see him set his concentration to try to walk to one of us or another piece of furniture JUST out of reach. It's so exciting to watch - and maybe it will mean his lazy brothers will bother trying too. :)

Stealing Pacifier Game - Aidan and Gavin

Happy Birthday to Us!

Happy Family - Mom and Dad, Aidan, Gavin and Brady

We can hardly believe it's been an entire year since the boys burst onto the scene (no c-section pun intended)! We started off the big birthday week with their one year appointment and vaccinations - FUN! Here are the stats:

Aidan - 20.24# and 28.58 inches long

Brady - 21.66# and 28.54 inches long

Gavin - 23.7# and 28.85 inches long

Truly, Small, Medium and Large. :) Funny story with their vaccines. After meeting with our Dr. and getting them signed off for vaccination, the nurse comes and asks if we can come back in 3 days (on their b-day) to get the shots. She says they aren't supposed to give the vaccines before they turn one year old and that if they give them prior to their birthday, we may have to get them re-done. Curt asks (somewhat sarcastically) if the vaccines won't work prior to 365 days passing from birth and she says we can insist on the vaccination, but we should really talk with the dr. We of course think she has taken crazy pills, since the dr. just signed off and said they were ready for vaccination, but i went back to the dr's office to check in with him and see what the hell she was talking about. He seemed surprised to see me and when i shared what she shared with us (about not having them prior to one year and needing to have them re-done) he gives her a LOOK, looks at me and says - "3 days?" I laughed and said, "if you are OK with it, we are DEFINITELY OK with it" and he says "the nurses have a different protocol". So I looked at the nurse and said "we are going to go with the Dr's protocol". Can you IMAGINE asking parents of multiples to not only miss another day of work but to get their squirmy children BACK to the dr. because they are 3 days ahead of their birthday?! That is the difference between teaching critical thinking skills and using rote memorization when training people. I don't say this to be sarcastic or mean, but only to be truthful about the sometimes challenging decisions people make in their jobs because the exact situation isn't outlined in the manual. All three boys were VERY good abotu their shots and only cried at the prick and surprise. Within moments they were back to their sweet selves (thanks in part to the tylenol mom gave them before we went to the dr.).

We had a small birthday gathering with some friends, but due to the SNA (snotty nose alert) we had to put out the morning of the party (aidan and gavin were SNOT machines and Brady got it that night) only one child came - who then got sick 2 days later on HER birthday. hey, we warned everyone and gave them an easy out. :)

It's my party and I'll cry if I want to - Brady

Anyway, Aidan and Gavin seemed to roll through the additional people in the apartment, but Brady had his shy hat on most of the afternoon. By the time we did cupcakes for the boys (about a half hour in) he had HAD it. He basically cried the entire time his brothers ate and watched him freak out. At least we got some good pics. :)

Once people weren't focused on him, he was able to calm down and play with some new toys and crawl near Leila (born two days after them) and watch her while she was fussy. It was very cute. Curt and I were just happy everyone got through year one without any major trauma - the boys OR us. :)

All three of the boys seem to be on the edge of a skill exposion. Of course they still will only say dada/gaga (Gavin is now babbling and fully responds to us talking to him - it's like he turned his switch on the week before his first birthday!) - but they are DEFINITELY communicating with each other and are understanding what we tell/ask them. Gavin is still standing the longest and the steadiest, but he hasn't really tried to make any steps. You can see him thinking about it as he wants to go from one place to another, but he inevitably plops on his bottom and crawls. Aidan on the other hand has taken a no holds barred approach with trying to walk. The other night he was standing by one end table and decided, seemingly on a whim, to walk over to the coffee table - about 3 feet away. He just basically THREW his body in that direction and hoped for the best. Kind of like drivers in Doha's roundabouts. :) Brady on the otehr hand is still mastering standing without support. He likes to climb up Curt or I as we are sitting/laying on the ground and then push himself to fully standing while he sticks out his tongue. and then crashes on us and laughs as he gets up to do it again.

And yes, I'm VERY mushy about the first year already passing. I can't BELIEVE how fast it has gone by for me. My parents had a pastor who talked about time and the speed with which it passes in a way that made a lot of sense to me. He said at your first birthday you have lived 100% of your life in that year - so it can seem like a long time. At your second birthday, you have lived 1/2 of your life in that year, so it may seem to pass more quickly. And so on. So in my 32nd year (when they were born) i lived 1/32nd of my life - in comparison with my life as a kid, it really has passed more quickly. Think how much longer summers seemed when you were in grade school. They were like whole years in and of themselves as a kid. And now it's a blink of an eye before it's almost fall and then winter again. (sigh). well, unless you live a mile from the sun like we do, then it seems like forever since you went outside without sweating profusely, but you know what i mean.

Brady gets his swim hair on!

Gavin has a good hair day

No photos please - Aidan

Someone has a drinking problem . . . - Gavin, Dad, Aidan

Brady Recovers

Our floors are really clean now . . .

Tonight was a doozy. I may or may not have mentioned this in the past, but diaper rash is a pain in the butt, and yes, i did mean the pun. We have been battling diaper rashES (yes, X3) for over a month now. it's BRUTAL. we have been to the dr 3 different times, had naked time, gotten a special wash that we use twice a day on everyone, have about 10 creams and lubes we use, and while we can ALMOST heal them on the weekend, after a few days with us at work, they are coming back. We are doing some investigative work about diapers and bums while we are gone for the day, but this at least gives you backdrop as to HOW annoyed we are with our current routine.

Usually we get everyone ready for bed in the living room. Plenty of room to climb on all kinds of stuff, fairly safe, not too much tile floor for people to conk themselves on and i will admit, we often play scooby doo for them to zone out to while we are doing our butt wash, then butt ready-ing routine. TOnight we decided to lock them in their bedroom with us since the bathroom is closer and we have to bring everything away from the diaper changing station and then bring it back in the morning - also annoying. We also decided to do more naked time in between the washing and the cream-ing to help dry these butts OUT! usually we put the diaper on for our safety and to avoid any clean up, but we were feeling daring i guess. fools.

I was washing baby #3 and Curt looks over to see Aidan standing in between 2 of the cribs completely still. that kid doesn't sit still FOR ANYTHING. except when he is pooping apparently. on the floor no less. Curt immediately goes to make sure he won't sit in it, play with it, etc and i look to see the ginormous puddle under Gavin's crib - courtesy of Aidan. Of course, I am LAUGHING my head off while i'm trying to wash Gavin and hand Curt a towel to clean aidan on, some wipes for the floor clean up, etc. Brady and Aidan are now interested in whatever Curt does NOT want them to do - mainly crawl near the poop or under the crib. it's pandemonium (i love that word).

we have then moved on to the second part of the routine - the creams. Keep in mind we have to wash our hands thoroughly in between each diaper area contact - so i am washing my hands 6 TIMES in the span of about 20 minutes. I come back from the bathroom (we had the door to their room closed) and Curt says, "is there something by the door?" I just see a couple of damp spots and assume it is from their soapy little behinds and say, "no, i think . . . (gasp) oh NO!" yes, someone else had peed (Aidan was diapered by now, so this is an accusatory look directed at Brady and Gavin!) and then proceeded to crawl through it and all over the general area. It looked like marks from a monster truck derby - only with pee on the wood floor. Out come the clorox wipes again, then of course keeping everyone away from the area - the ONLY place they want to be now. then wiping away the clorox so they don't eat that . . . it was EXHAUSTING.

We have now dubbed our long hallway the "Trail of Tears". Nightly it seems the boys cry their way down the hallway as we are bringing them from baths to eating, or just as they cry up and down the hallway before they eat their last bottle.

Gavin has begun whistleing. It is adorable. He will be concentrating on a toy, or standing while holding something and you will see him purse his lips and whistle for a little bit. It's almost like he doesn't know he does it, but it is happening more and more often, so maybe he is putting on a show for us. He is also doing the BEST at standing unassisted! Tonight he pulled up on the side of the loveseat and grabbed a small blanket sitting on the arm. He then let go of the couch as he examines the blanket for about 15 seconds! It wasn't until I said "Good boy Gavin!" that he then looked at me and plopped on his bottom. Aidan and Brady will play the game where they will stand between our legs and then when we let go of them they will fall in a direction and we will catch them. They LOVE it (Aidan has adopted the Austin Powers style of falling - "It's turbulance baby!" with his arms up by his head and falling on his tummy) but I think they love the being caught more than the standing for the 3 seconds.

Things I Thought Would Digest . . .

Gavin, Aidan, Brady

Grapes.

Strawberries.

Squash.

But, no. they come out almost like they went in. For those of you who are parents, I do not need to go into any more details about how i know this. For those of you with more sensitive natures, you do not WANT me to go into any more details about how I know this. :)

Tonight was a complete meltdown night. It started off innocently enough - bath time with a few spats of crying from Gavin when he was not in the tub and as he was being taken out. Otherwise, even Aidan was pretty chill. Then as I was finishing lubing Aidan up and getting him into PJs, all hell broke loose as Curt made bottles. It sounded like Gavin was being tortured. Apparently sitting in the kitchen and watching dad make bottles is akin to torture when you are a hungry boy. Brady can hear Gavin shreiking from the kitchen and he decides he will now show empathy and he begins to cry - and of course Aidan joins in. Aidan and Brady are crying all the way down the hall (did I mention tile has a low co-efficient for sound absorption - i.e. it magnifies rather than silences?) like I just told them we weren't going to feed them tonight.

Until tonight we have still needed to feed two while one waits (usually Brady - his brothers better appreciate his patience!). Sometimes they will hold their bottles, but it has been hit and miss. After the spectacle down the hall i told curt i would feed two. He said, "Nope - if they are hungry they can hold their own damn bottle tonight!" and sure enough ALL THREE DID! I guess when you are hungry/distressed enough you will make it happen for yourself. :)

In case you are wondering what parents of triplets do for fun, I will tell you. We impersonate our kids. Yes, every once in awhile one of us will turn to the other and say, "hey, who am I?" and proceed to ham it up for the other person. It pretty much leaves us both in stitches since 1) our kids are pretty funny and 2) we have a low threshold for humor with our current lives. The good news is it's almost always their more endearing qualities we are impersonating - no one wants to relive nights like tonight. :)

Aidan says, "How YOU doin'?"

Today Aidan discovered the drapes and the sheers (one is a black out shade and one allows light in but so it's not so bright/hot). He was LOVING swishing them around himself and playing "Where's Aidan?". He actually had wrapped one of the drapes all the way around himself so you could only see part of his little bottom and then would unveil himself with a SWOOSH. too cute. He then of course lost his balance briefly and fell straight back from the drape, landing on the rug under the dining room table. Not the softest of spots, but better than the tile floor lurking underneath. He kept his eyes on me while I talked him through it - but he never cried. it was a breakthrough for him! He pretty much always lets you know when he has fallen/hurts himself, however mild.

Dad and Gavin

GAVIN UPDATE: We had more extensive hearing tests for Gavin on Thursday and he passed all of them with flying colors. He was SUCH a good boy - in some ways I love taking the boys to the Dr. because they are usually pretty chill (Gavin just hung out in my lap in the waiting room for 20 minutes and watched people - no toy or anything!) and it's a chance to see what it's like for singleton parents (seriously - ONE to chase? heaven).

Anyway, the Dr. recommended we do another hearing test to test the brain stem response (basically, he is hearing, but to make sure it is sending the correct signals to the brain - or something like that). We are waiting to see if a speech pathologist friend thinks we should do this test (it will involve him missing a nap AND a meal, and then an hour and a half long test where he is supposed to be put into a deep sleep - not sure if we want to put him OR us through this), or if we should just keep using his name 100X more than anyone would in ordinary conversation . . . and wait for his development to kick in. More later . . .

Bye, Bye Baby Bottles

Brady looks for his brothers

Now that the boys are 11 months old (TODAY!) we have dropped down to just one bottle at night. That means they are eating loads of solid food at least 3 times a day and whatever they can beg from Curt or I as we snack. :) They had their first all finger-food meal this weekend with some chicken, green beans and shredded apples. It took them at least 30 FULL minutes to eat, but they were happy and content the whole time and were willing to eat whatever strays we helped get into their mouths.

Gavin and Aidan are little beggars for my apple

Pretty much everyone is now standing to greet us when we come in their room in the morning which is pretty fun. The down side is without 2 bottles a day, it's going to be hard to get the snuggles I need since they no one likes sitting still for very long! Aidan has started a very loving game where he will sit on your lap with his back to you and then bob back and forth and bounce off of your body. Every once in awhile he will look back at you to make sure you are paying attention and he'll giggle as he continues to bounce off of you. This morning I was reading a couple of books to Gavin and had a leg stretched out on either side of him. Aidan crawled right over and took a book we weren't reading (surprise surprise!) and proceeded to lay with his head on my thigh and leaf through the book himself. Pretty adorable. It's so funny to see "adult" behaviors from these little ones.

Mom reads to Gavin and Aidan

I can't believe a year ago today I was 1) pregnant and hot as hell and 2) Curt and I still had so much freedom! One year later I am 1) NOT pregnant, but it's still hot as hell and 2) Curt and I have much less freedom. We went to a friend's pool party this weekend with the boys and in order to enjoy ourelves a little bit, we pushed their bedtime back. I don't know how often we will do that (we do pay for it with a pound of flesh), but it was good to get in a pool and to hang out with some friends, even if we were a little distracted the whole time. All 3 decided they did NOT want to be held by anyone else while we were in the pool. At least they don't weigh as much in the water, but it was still kind of a pain - and WAY too hot for any one to be out of the water. Hopefully that was just due to lots of new people and a new place, otherwise, i don't know if I can handle that clinginess for too long! :)

Sleepy time Brady . . .

Speaking of weight we have Aidan weighing in at 20+ lbs, Brady at 21.5 lbs and Gavin at 23 lbs! Gavin is 75% for his head size (giant head, like sputnik), between 50 and 75% for his weight and (don't laugh) 25% for his height! No wonder the PJs for 12 - 18 months are so long on him! We will get everyone's 411 in a month, but i think it's funny we have so much variation in one kid!

Brady and Daddy snuggle

They have also begun playing together more. Sometimes this results in giggles and good photo opportunities and sometimes this results in tears. Gavin and Aidan pretty much try to run Brady over if he is standing somewhere they would like to go, resulting in tears. However yesterday Curt watched Gavin repeatedly push on Brady while they were both on the floor and the two of them got to giggling at themselves like crazy. Gavin also went in for Aidan's pacifier, lost his balance and landed on top of the kid! yep, you guessed it - tears.

The boys love their toy from Grandma and Grandpa V!

Crawling, Standing and Falling, OH MY!

Good Morning Gavin!

Mobility is overrated. OK, maybe I don't really mean that. But as Curt said today, "the collection of bruises on our kids heads is mindboggling". The only child to not have bruises is Brady and he has scratches from seemingly non-existant nails on his face and in his ears. he must do some serious flailing of his arms while he is sleeping. Brady seems to have the greatest sense of physical self-preservation as he slowly gets on the move. He is full on crawling (even if it is more primitive than his brothers right now) but he is just now thinking about pulling himself up on things. Maybe next week. :)

Brady loves US Soccer and the Cubbies!

Gavin pretty much bangs his head into something every day. He doesn't get upset about it, but it always looks like it hurts. I saw him trying (so hard!) to slowly lower himself to the floor from the coffee table this morning. Apparently he didn't communicate his plan to his legs or his head and he bonks his chin RIGHT on the edge of the table. He didn't cry, but he did look shocked and unhappy. and he got right back up to get right back down again. Amazing. I lift weights too hard one day and I don't hit the gym for a week if i am too sore! Gavin also likes crawling under the coffee table, however it is too low for him to sit up underneath it. That doesn't seem to stop him from trying (again and again) and then getting frustrated that he can't sit up straight. one day, he'll learn to slouch. :)

Shoes are fun! Aidan and Gavin

And dear, sweet, Aidan. He is our MOST mobile and i think he just wears himself out. By the end of the day we find ourselves witnessing any number of falls that nearly always end up in tears (for more than one of us). Wednesday night we had everyone in PJs, bottles done, teeth brushed, books read - they couldn't have been MORE on the road to bed. I was holding Gavin and Curt was holding Brady on the couch and Aidan was between us standing on the floor while he slapped his hands on the couch cushions like it was the BEST thing ever. He then decides to turn toward the coffee table (he's moving between stationary objects now) and loses his balance and WHAM! SMACKS his head into the side of the coffee table. he did one of those really hard SILENT cries that break my heart every time (i really would rather a loud wail). There was a white line on his temple with ruby red spots above and below. It is now turning yellow and brown and looks like he has a line of dirt on his temple. All i can say is thank goodness for my Target shopping spree. In the US I bought a "children's" ice pack where you put the gel pack in a little stuffed animal puppy thing that is supposed to distract them so you are able to ice injuries a little bit. even I thought I was being a little nuerotic when i bought it. But aidan let me put ice on his head for about ten minutes while he played with the ears on the puppy's head.

Sweet Aidan

Gavin is off to the Dr. tomorrow. Curt and I have noticed he doesn't seem to respond to his name like his brothers. and I'm not comparing them like "oh my gosh! WHAT'S WRONG WITH GAVIN?!" it's more like a benchmarking comparison. We really spent the last week being sure we used his name a lot and spoke to him directly in his face a lot, with little change. So we are going to get his hearing checked out. Thanks to a good friend whose sister is a speech pathologist in the states, I got a free consultation this evening from her about what to ask about, what testing she would recommend and she even did a little developmental checklist over skype with me. She was very reassuring and while she thinks it may be his hearing, it seems like it may be more of accumulation of fluid, as opposed to something permanent. Of course this makes me concerned, but i'm OK (as long as things at the dr are OK'd and we feel comfortable with where to go from here). Keeping in mind of course, we know he has SOME hearing, just not sure how much.

When will breakfast be served??? - Gavin

UPDATE: after the appointment the Dr. has said Gavin is OK - he thinks it may just be he doesn't KNOW his name (i.e. developmental) which he says for a preemie is perfectly acceptable for his milestones. We are going to do a follow up hearing test (the machine in the dr's office didn't work - welcome to Doha) even though he passed the physical tests Dr. Ihab was doing (snapping fingers on the side of his head, rubbing hands together - he responded to all outside of his field of vision). The doc said that since he is on target for all other developmental milestones (both social and physical) he's not concerned now that he doesn't repond to his name. We feel good, but are still going to do the follow up hearing check with the hearing specialty center in the hospital. :)

Bad Blogger, BAD!

Aidan likes the new diaper bag

Having a month long vacation really makes you . . . relaxed. and lazy. I actually thought i would have ambition/inspiration to update the blog once a week while on vacation - guess this just proves i am much more productive when i have more to do. I had plenty of inspiration, but little ambition. it was wonderful :)

So we had a GREAT month off, and yes, it did feel too short (for me anyway). :) Our trip to the US with super-friend Jenny went as well as can be expected for three 9 month olds who are now aware that there are other things they want to look into and nap time is WAY boring compared to a plane full of new things to explore. We were traveling for about 24 hours in order to get from Doha, Qatar to Des Moines, Iowa (including layovers in London and Chicago). I wouldn't recommend this for anyone. :)

We met Curt's dad at OHare (for him to be our third adult after Jenny headed home) and had let the boys out of the stroller to wiggle and crawl and just not be held in one place. By this point we are about 21 hours into our day of travel and Curt and I had gotten sandwiches for dinner and were sitting on the floor in one of the gates in our terminal. We had put new PJs on the boys (they were grey from all of the floor dirt on the planes - YUM!) and they were just happy to be free. I was sitting on the ground with my legs in front of me and Brady was sitting on my lap. Now this kid will sit in one place FOREVER. He doesn't move (at 9 months anyway). Suddenly, i see that he is tipping forward, but I am too slow with my reflexes and he FACE PLANTS on the extremely hard carpeted floor. He immediately starts crying (i would too) and I picked him up to cuddle him. I thought, "Man, he is either crying a lot or drooling a lot!" because my shoulder was wet. I pull him away to survey the damage and see his mouth FULL OF BLOOD (which was why my shirt was wet). OH MY GOODNESS! he develops a HUGE fat lip (Fat Albert fat lip) within minutes and is so upset. i begin crying since i can't help but feeling responsible and Curt is trying to get him to let us put ice on his lip and Brady is NOT having any of it. His new PJS are covered in blood, he is screaming and his brothers seem to be oblivious. Have you ever gotten on a plane with a baby covered in his own blood and covered in it yourself? People give you looks. All's well that ends well - his teeth are fine, he had just split his frenulum (the piece of skin that attaches the lip to the gum - VERY vascular - and now you had a vocabulary lesson).

The day after the big fall . . .

Brady likes to fly!

The boys were welcomed to Iowa with a rainstorm the first night and tornado sirens the second night. While rain most days in June might annoy you all, we LOVED IT! there is nothing like being able to sleep with the windows open (no calls to prayer in the early morning) and to hear rain. the boys are also in love with nature! We would take them for walks or outside on blankets and they would just stare at the trees, wind, squirrels, grass, dogs, whatever. We also got them a frog baby pool. Aidan and Gavin were bonkers the first time we put them in it - they were SO EXCITED! Brady ended up liking it, but he doesn't like his brothers to splash him. so he would sit (no surprise there) and watch them and occasionally whine when they got too close or started kicking too hard.

Brady, Gavin and Aidan love their frog pool!

Aidan really started pulling himself up on EVERYTHING at the Kenoyer's house and really began his cruising lifestyle. Gavin has earned the nickname "Tank" around our house because he crawls THROUGH toys, his brothers, your leg, etc. He was also the pacifier bandit because even if he has one, he wants his brother's. Aidan worked out a little trick to avoid being run over. As soon as Gavin begins his death march, Aidan will spit his pacifer out on the floor. it's VERY intentional, and Gavin gets the pacifier and noone gets hurt. Gavin began pulling up about a week or so before we left Iowa, and Brady still was not crawling, pulling up, anything. I think he is just pretty chill (or he was) and so is generally happy where you put him. he did begin to get a little upset when a ball he was playing with would roll away and one of his brothers would then crawl over to play with it in front of him. I think it has finally motivated him. He is now rocking on hands and knees regularly and with Curt playing with him JUST out of his reach, he is beginning some hopping toward toys.

Aidan and Gavin like ottomans . . .

Since we have gotten back home - also a VERY long day, but luckily no bloody episodes - we have been able to get back into our routine pretty well. We got another exer-saucer thing to try to corrall the rugrats since it is CONSTANT vigilance "no!" "Careful . . ." "AIDAN/GAVIN" (not brady, he's still harmless on the ground) "don't climb that!" to be sure they don't bust their head open on all of our tile floors or crack teeth on whatever they are destined to lose their balance on. the great part is they are beginning to play with one another. Aidan and Gavin will head toward our foyer and untie shoelaces or trade pacifiers or just crawl around after each other in general. Brady will begin laughing like crazy as his brothers head toward him or climb up on the diaper changing area while he's there like they are coming after him. It is ADORABLE. I can't wait for them to begin to interact even more.

Gavin likes strawberry popsicles . . .

Today I took Aidan in for a re-check on a bad diaper rash (not the roseola he got in Iowa - poor kid) and saw a set of BG twins in the waiting room as I left. I couldn't contain myself! I went up to the father sitting with them whose eyes were COMPLETELY vacant and exhausted and asked him how old they were (1 week - hence the vacant, exhausted eyes). I then told him that Aidan was a triplet and that there was a light at the end of the tunnel and that they could do it. And I really felt that! Even though some times have been tough in the last 10 months, i really do feel like it gets easier every day (well most days) and that even though there are things about life pre-children i miss, life is GOOOOOOOD. and I wouldn't change it. In fact, looking back, in some ways I feel like if I DIDN'T have three all at once, i might have been more lazy - and you dear reader, would have NO blog to read. :) so, thanks to The Boys, I'm actually chronicalling their lives. Who knew that would be the silver lining? :)